Car safety seats for children are commercially available in a many configurations corresponding to differences in the age, weight, and size of the child being transported. Parents can choose a car seat that is not only the correct size, but also suits their tastes, budget, and life style. As children grow in size and maturity level, they need different kinds of car seats. For example, a child may initially use a rearwardly facing infant car seat, then graduate to a forward facing toddler seat with an integrated harness, and finally to a belt positioning booster seat utilizing the vehicle's lap and shoulder belt system before being able to safely use the vehicle's seat belts alone.
There are many car seats on the market that can be used in multiple configurations. For instance, a forward facing car seat with an integral harness appropriate for a 20-40 pound child might accommodate a child weighing 30-100 pounds as a belt positioning booster seat with the removal of the harness and utilizing the vehicle's lap and shoulder belts. This is convenient for the care giver because it means fewer seats to purchase. Some parents choose to buy a belt positioning booster seat for their older child. Such a booster seat may be configured with a high back, such as is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,682,143, granted to Davis Amirault on Jan. 27, 2004, or can have no back at all. Older children who do not want to be seen sitting in a “baby seat” prefer the option of a belt positioning booster seat.
Currently available car seats typically have a monolithic shell, i.e. the back and seat cannot be used separately. Some car seats are designed to have a no back base option, but are configured as a separate seat fastened under the monolithic seat and back, such as is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,754,999, issued on Jul. 5, 1998, to James Kain. The problem with this configuration is the redundancy of seats; one as part of the monolithic shell, and one as a seat only. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,746,080, issued to MihoTsugimatsu, et al on Jun. 8, 2004, a reversible child seat member is cooperable with a complex base apparatus that has a central latching mechanism. A cable actuated latching mechanism for connecting a car seat to a base member is shown in U.S. Patent Publication No. 2006/0273640 of Kenzou Kassai, published on Dec. 7, 2006.
The basic purpose of a child's car seat is to protect the child in case the vehicle in which the car seat is mounted is involved in a crash event. Protecting the child involves limiting excursion and controlling the forces exerted on the child from the vehicle undergoing a crash event. Improper installation of a car seat is a major factor in a loss of protection for the child. If the car seat requires a complicated or complex belt path along which the vehicle seat belt is positioned to secure the car seat to the vehicle seat, the likelihood that the car seat will be properly installed is diminished. A belt path for the vehicle seat belt that is more visible and easier to access will increase the likelihood that the car seat will have a tight, proper installation.
During the first year of the life of a baby, the child should be positioned in a car seat in a manner to be facing rearwardly. When the child is over a year old, the child can be placed in the car seat in a manner that the child is facing forwardly. Presently known car seats require a remounting of the car seat and a repositioning of the vehicle seat belt to accomplish this conversion in orientation or the substitution of a different and larger car seat. Each time the car seat is reconfigured or moved from one vehicle to another, a new opportunity to improperly mount the car seat on the vehicle seat is presented, which can be aggravated by a non-intuitive, complicated belt path for mounting the car seat.
Many child car seats provide options for reclining the seat relative to the vehicle seat on which the car seat is mounted. Most known child car seats require a readjustment of the vehicle seat belt when changes are made to the recline orientation of the car seat. Readjusting the vehicle seat belt is an inconvenience to the person making the recline adjustment and provides an additional opportunity for the car seat to become improperly installed, which would not provide the optimum safety for the child positioned within the car seat.
Providing a separable base member and car seat that incorporates a latching mechanism that detachably connects the car seat to the base member, establishes an opportunity to provide an indicator to show when the seat member is properly latched into the base member. A positive feedback to indicate that the latching mechanism has been properly engaged would be desirable. In U.S. Patent Publication No. 2005/0275258 of James Patterson, et al, published on Dec. 15, 2005, a first sensor is incorporated into the car seat to indicate the angular position of the car seat relative to a first axis. If the angular position is outside of a predetermined range, the controller provides an indicator of the improperly aligned car seat. U.S. Patent Publication No. 2006/0111821 of Edward Wallner, et al, published on May 25, 2006, discloses an event data recorder that utilizes sensors to indicate the position of the car seat so that the data recorder can be utilized to evaluate conditions of the car seat, such as during a car crash. Sensors are provided on the seat base and on the seat member to detect the proper latching of the seat to the base and to detect the proper coupling of the child's seat belt on the seat member in U.S. Patent Publication No. 2007/0296254 of Michael Kahn, published on Dec. 27, 2007, and a notification system is actuated if one of the sensed latch devices is not properly secured.
It would also be desirable to provide a latching mechanism that would positively secure the child car seat to the base member irrespective of the forward or rearward orientation of the car seat. It would also be desirable to provide a latching mechanism that will not be capable of operation if a child is seated in the car seat. It would also be desirable to provide a monitoring system that is operable to detect an ineffective latching of the car seat to the base member and provide a warning of the unsafe condition resulting from the improper latching of the car seat to the base member.